[4][5] In February 2018, members of the FvD complained that Otten led the party apparatus in a dictatorial way and demanded more internal democracy.

Although he later returned the money at the party's request, the incident prompted Otten to resign as a board member.

[7][8][9][10] Otten was formally expelled from the FvD on 24 July 2019 due to financial malpractices and for making critical statements of Baudet's leadership.

He subsequently disputed some of the allegations as slander and claimed his expulsion was as a result of his criticism of what he regarded as Baudet's controversial statements on social media and aggressive leadership style (which Otten attributed to the FvD's difficulty in forming coalitions in Provincial Councils) rather than financial disputes.

Otten was joined in his new party by fellow former FvD politicians Robert Baljeu and Dorien Rookmaker.